Savage Chains: Shattered (#3) (Men in Chains) (4 page)

Reyes, this is so wonderful. And I’m close again.

So am I. Your blood is like heaven, and feeling your body in so many places at the same time is erotic as hell.

Faster.

Both men moved faster, sucked harder. The primary Reyes thrust his tongue deep into her mouth, the secondary, wedged between her cheeks, used the pressure to work his cock.

Suddenly ecstasy arrived, like a powerful wave crashing down on her. They were three, moving as one, shouting, screaming, crying out. The secondary Reyes moved swiftly behind, his cock tight between her butt cheeks and jerking hard. Primary Reyes curled his hips, pumping between her legs in quick thrusts, shouting as he came. She’d never known such pleasure.

And the sensation kept rolling, so that the bed shook and her heart ached. She loved this so much, being surrounded by two powerful male bodies, both Reyeses. Affection, maybe even love, flowed through her as she reached the pinnacle once more.

Was this love? Did she love the man who drank her blood and plowed into her body in the most wonderful way?

She felt possessed, even enchanted, by the vampire holding her captive in his arms.

Only after a long euphoric minute did the bed begin to settle.

Angelica breathed hard, as did both men.

A soft vibration ran through Reyes, and she watched as the secondary form joined the primary and became one body again. Angelica could barely keep her eyes open as Reyes rolled her onto her back. She felt as though she could float, and her mind was suffused with a delicate euphoria that kept every thought at bay.

She savored the fact that Reyes was still buried deep inside her, that in this moment they were one, they were equals, they were bound.

She wrapped him up in her arms and he kissed her repeatedly. There was an eternal feel to the moment, helping her to believe that no matter what happened in the coming days or weeks, this time with Reyes could never be taken away from her.

This was wonderful.

He drew back, still connected low, and thumbed her cheek. “I feel the same way. You’ve changed everything for me, Angelica, and for that I’ll always be grateful.”

He made love to her again and again that night. And more than once, she fell into deep conversation with him about his family life and his home in Venezuela where he’d grown up. He shared that when he’d made his fortune and bought the property back, he’d also worked to retrieve all their family possessions, many of which went back several centuries.

His mother’s family was Celtic with red hair and blue eyes, though his father had a Spanish heritage, which explained Reyes’s coloring: dark hair, light eyes. “My mother had a large collection of small silver boxes, handed down through generations. I was able to get most of them back.”

“They have great meaning to you.”

“My mother treasured them, so yes, great meaning.”

Angelica felt an odd tingling sensation pass through her. “What was her name?”

“Faylen. She had dark auburn hair and was very beautiful.”

“I have no doubt.” But there it was again, some kind of tingling, but she didn’t know what it was, like a memory that just wouldn’t surface. He had told her that Faylen had died shortly after Sweet Dove had enslaved Reyes, yet something about that nagged at Angelica. She just didn’t know why.

The conversation moved on, and she forgot about the odd sensation. Reyes told her about the rock shelf that overlooked a rich tropical valley below, and she wished she could see his South American home. But she probably wouldn’t. She’d be going home soon, right after the last Starlin event at the Crystal Dome.

* * *

Over the next couple of weeks and through the continuous stream of Starlin events, she accompanied Reyes to a host of parties. They stayed only long enough to support Reyes’s cover as a slaver before leaving.

Reyes would then take her back to his bedroom and, before long, back to his bed.

She was sore in the best way and treasured every joining, though she tried hard not to think about the fact that soon she would be heading home, back to California. Although it was likely Reyes would insist on relocating both her and her mother to a different state. He feared someone from Starlin would happen to see her and the nightmare would start all over again.

How far away that world seemed to her now: her simple accountant’s life, her mother’s infirm condition, the boredom she’d endured in her day-to-day routine. The thought of returning didn’t hold even a spark of interest for her, except to be with her mother. And she really hated the thought that once she left Reyes’s world, he might be forced to resume some sort of physical relationship with Sweet Dove in order to gain access to the information he needed to take Starlin down.

She shuddered at the thought.

Each day, usually at mealtime, Reyes would spend an hour or two on the Starlin Web site to familiarize himself with the organization. He’d also exchanged several e-mails with Sweet Dove since he’d broken out of his chains.

Angelica read the e-mails as well, and would have been appalled by the sadistic nature of the content if she hadn’t come to understand how vile Sweet Dove really was.

Reyes continued to play Sweet Dove by tempting her with explicit, sexual suggestions, but at the same time dwelling on the importance of an equal partnership with her. Sweet Dove in turn seemed to have gotten over her rage that Reyes had escaped her shackles and would never be returning to her as her slave.

Angelica knew the careful line Reyes walked with Sweet Dove. He had to convince her that acting as a consensual partner could be more fulfilling than the slave-slaver relationship Sweet Dove really wanted. And with each exchange Sweet Dove seemed to be relenting a little more.

It seemed Sweet Dove wanted him even more, now that she couldn’t have him.

The day before the masked ball at the Crystal Dome, the finale for the three weeks of Starlin events, Reyes surfaced from studying the organization’s Web site. He sat at the table in the sitting room, his laptop open. “I think we need to do something to corroborate my plan to fake your death following the masquerade tomorrow night.”

Angelica didn’t mind discussing the details, but she had no heart for thinking about how soon she’d be separating from Reyes.

She sat on the nearby couch, sewing a long black cat’s tail onto the back of her bustier. The simple costume would serve for the masked ball: bustier and thong, a headband with a pair of cat’s ears, a few whiskers glued to her face. But the tail had come loose.

Without looking up at him, she asked, “You mean something beyond telling your fellow sadists that you got overzealous in one of our bondage sessions and I died?”

He drummed his fingers on the table. “I think I have to add something. I mean, part of the way I kept Engles away from you all this time was by making it clear I didn’t hurry the torturing of my slaves.”

Remembering this part of his charade, she smiled a little. “You mean all those times you boasted about liking to ‘season your meat over a long period of time’?”

He shook his head and she could feel his dismay through the shared chains. “I had to say something to explain your lack of bruises and cuts, and for the most part I think it worked.”

Angelica tied the final knot, then set the thread and needle aside. She gave a tug on the tail and, satisfied, finally met his gaze. “So what do you have in mind?”

“I think I know a way we can effectively create some realistic bruising without actually hurting you.”

Her lips curved. “Is this a new Ancestral power you haven’t told me about?”

He returned her smile, and for just a moment she was caught all over again. He was gorgeous when he smiled, and his blue eyes lit up in a way that actually made her heart hurt. For the first time she realized she really didn’t want to leave Reyes.

He answered her question. “No, this has nothing to do with any newly acquired abilities from having tapped into my Ancestral power for that very brief moment. Actually this is a trick I once saw Eve do. She has a way of using makeup to create exactly this kind of effect.” As the owner of the Ruby Cave and a famous stage personality in the sex-club trade, Eve would know all the tricks.

“Does she actually add bruising for her performances?” From what Reyes had told her, Eve might be into BDSM, but she had strict rules governing her shows.

“No, she doesn’t believe in any kind of torture, just dominance. But on Halloween she likes to plant a few zombies in her audience just for fun, and let me tell you those monsters look real.”

Angelica smoothed her hand down the soft cat’s tail. “And after I’m all dressed up in black-and-blue, you’ll show me off at the masked ball.”

“I think it would add to my credibility since I intend to fake your death. If it looks like I’ve lost control with you before, the whole thing will be more plausible when I suddenly announce that I lost it again in one of my bondage sessions and you didn’t make it.”

Angelica thought for a moment. “You know, I think this is a really good idea. And after the masked ball, we can come straight back here and set the stage in your game room. Maybe you could hang me from the chains or something.”

He nodded. “That’s an excellent idea. And with the right makeup, trust me, you’d look really dead.” He thought for a moment. “Afterward, I could post the pics on the Starlin Web site, maybe blog about it. Yep, this will go a long way to support my claims that I’ve killed you and dumped you in the ocean.”

Angelica barely blinked about the dumping part. Reyes had told her more than once that the middle of the ocean had become the favorite disposal ground for the sadist set.

With the matter settled Reyes opened the laptop once more, but a minute later he gave a shout of triumph. “Listen to this. Sweet Dove has agreed to meet with me in private during the masked ball. She wants to begin discussions about our long-term relationship on both a business and a personal level.” He turned to meet her gaze. “Angelica, she’s agreed to bring me in as a partner. Do you know what this means?”

She felt his excitement and couldn’t help but smile. “You’ll have access to all the information you’ll need to tear down Starlin.”

“That’s exactly what it means.”

But Angelica felt uneasy. She didn’t trust Sweet Dove, and something about the proposed meeting made her skin crawl.

* * *

The next night, with a few hours to go before the masked ball, Reyes’s housekeeper informed him that Eve had arrived.

Reyes had known Eve a long time, decades in fact. She was one of the key attractions at the Erotic Passage, a vast sex-club network in the Como Cavern system which he had often visited over the years. He counted her as a friend, and she was one of the few people in his world he trusted without question.

With Angelica beside him, he greeted the blond beauty.

She was an Amazonian type and, with stilettos on, was even taller than Reyes. She wore her long blond hair held away from her face with a simple headband. Even without her usually extravagant stage makeup she was a striking beauty, with ice-blue cat eyes, a straight nose, strong cheekbones, and arched brows. She had a direct way of looking at everyone that spoke of her confidence.

She kissed Reyes on each cheek, then turned to offer her hand to Angelica. “I’m Eve. I saw what you did for Reyes at the after-auction party, just after the performance of my acting troupe, when he’d mentally checked out. You did good.” She smiled, showing lovely straight teeth. “But you really should bind him to a table, wear a little leather, make use of a flogger.” She broke off, glancing from one to the other. “Wait a minute. What’s with those smiles?”

Reyes took Angelica’s hand and shook his head. “Can’t get much past you.” Going through the recent experience with Angelica had changed something for him, as though breaking free of the chains had truly ended the decades of slavery for him.

Eve’s smile broadened. “So you really did it? I’d love some details.”

Reyes wagged his finger. “Not gonna happen. But you were right. It worked for both of us, I think.” He looked down at Angelica who smiled up at him, her eyes shining. They’d escaped death together on that table, but it was all the lovemaking afterward, day after day, that had his heart aching right now.

“So where would you like to do this?” Eve glanced around.

Reyes gestured toward the staircase. “How about we take this to my bedroom?”

“Now that’s a place I’ve begged to see all this time. I’m honored.”

Reyes had refused a dozen entreaties to share Eve’s bed. He valued her friendship too much to cloud it with sex, even though she’d assured him repeatedly that she wasn’t a clingy sort and would never have had expectations of him beyond sex.

Had he been tempted? Hell, yes, but right now he was glad he’d stuck to his guns.

He pulled Angelica close to his side, lifting her off her feet, then levitated to the second story, Eve close behind.

Once within he closed the door, and after settling both Eve and Angelica in the sitting room, he swore Eve to secrecy. He then told her about his desire and efforts to destroy the Starlin Group.

Eve listened wide-eyed. “So let me understand. You bought Angelica at auction and now both of you are pretending to support a slave-slaver relationship because you’re undercover?”

“Exactly. But this group is heavy into torture, and I need some kind of proof that I’ve been hurting Angelica or I won’t be able to move higher up in the organization.” Though the last bit wasn’t the entire truth, given that he’d soon be Sweet Dove’s partner, he felt it necessary to keep Eve in the dark, especially where Sweet Dove was concerned. The less she knew, the better.

Eve leaned close to Reyes. “I want you to know how much I appreciate that you’re going after Starlin. I never said anything all this time about the company you’ve kept, but now I understand and I’m so proud of what you’re doing.” She included Angelica as well, grabbing for her hand and giving a squeeze. “For what you’re both trying to accomplish.”

Reyes nodded. “The moment I escaped my own slavery, I set my mind to it.”